Up next in 10
What Happened To Superhero Sidekicks?
Aug 1, 2025
Superhero's and their Sidekicks have been a staple of the comic book industry since it's inception. A sidekick was not only meant to help combat villains in the superhero universe, but was also a device used to push the main hero forward, keep him accountable, and expand the story week after week. But in the modern superhero filmic landscape, the superhero sidekick has become a thing of the past. But why has Marvel and DC abandoned a once essential part of superhero stories?
View Video Transcript
0:00
I am a little hungry
0:01
Of course, Robin. Even crime fighters must eat. And especially you, you're a growing boy and you need your nutrition
0:08
Every great metropolis has a silent avenger. A secret paragon of truth, justice, and equality
0:15
And typically speaking, these iconic do-gooders have one thing in common. They all have sidekicks
0:21
Teenage accomplices of the hero in question, charged with taking up the creed and legacy of their mentors
0:27
And yet, the more these beloved four-color vigilantes are adapted into billion-dollar film franchises
0:33
the less we see of their adolescent-supporting acts. Let's face it, the superhero sidekick is a thing of the past
0:40
Undoubtedly, when thinking of a superhero sidekick, the first one that leaps to mind is Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Robin
0:48
While today's episode isn't exclusively a Robin episode, it's going to feature a lot of discussion about the boy wonder
0:54
because, inarguably, he's the most iconic sidekick. Robin was created for two reasons
1:03
The first was a simple sales ploy. DC Comics and Bat creators Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson
1:09
were attempting to appeal to the primarily young readership of the book
1:13
While Batman might have been initially introduced as a brooding, gun-wielding anti-hero
1:18
everyone involved with the character rapidly figured out that the quickest way to make money was to sell him to the reader base of mostly children
1:26
The second reason Robin was created was purely logistical, to give Batman someone to talk to
1:31
While Jerry Robinson was the person primarily responsible for pushing the idea that Batman
1:36
would have a Robin Hood-themed sidekick, it was Bill Finger who built out all of the narrative
1:41
real estate that was given to the character. As quoted in Steranko's History of Comics
1:46
Finger relayed the creation as such, Robin was an outgrowth of a conversation I had with Bob
1:51
As I said, Batman was a combination of Douglas Fairbanks and Sherlock Holmes
1:56
Holmes had his Watson. The thing that bothered me was that Batman didn have anyone to talk to and it got tiresome always having him thinking But this archetype of a young companion aiding the adult superhero in their war on injustice wouldn be a one
2:10
The formula proved so successful that teen or child sidekicks became all the rage
2:15
across basically every publisher. From Bucky, to Toro, to Speedy, to Donna Troy, to Superboy, to Jubilee
2:21
Basically every superhero at one point or another has been given a teen sidekick in
2:26
order to attempt to sell books. And they worked. But these characters serve a much more noble purpose than just simply attempting to pull in a younger audience
2:35
They serve as a grounding element to the heroes. This is ironic considering the idea of an 11-year-old child learning martial arts
2:42
and using his familial gymnastic skills to take up a life of crime-fighting is pretty unbelievable
2:48
And yet, this type of logic has been a staple of sidekicks for close to 80 years
2:53
with Robin being the prime example. But here's the thing. When sidekicks are brought into other mediums, they're usually aged up
3:00
Robbins only appeared in two incarnations on the big screen in live action
3:04
Once in Batman the Movie from 1966, and then again in the two Batman films directed by Joel Schumacher
3:10
In his prestige adaptation, the character is taken in by Bruce Wayne after the murder of his family
3:16
The only problem being, he's being played by Chris O'Donnell, who at the time of the film's release was 25 years old
3:22
Yeah, he was a grown man who could have had a master's degree and entered the workforce, but instead, he was doing karate laundry in Wayne Manor
3:31
Robin's youth and innocence serves as a ray of hope in Bruce Wayne's dour world
3:36
He's there to smile, laugh, and remind Bruce that the world can be b with optimism
3:40
The world of Batman, as with all superheroes, is an ecosystem of symbols that are just as important in their world as they are in ours
3:48
There have been a few close calls with Robin almost making it to the big screen over the years
3:53
In fact, he was going to appear in each of Tim Burton's Batman films, with Marlon Wayans literally being cast in Returns and then being paid not to appear in the final film
4:03
Why was he cut Because the powers that be were worried that introducing a teen sidekick would make our protagonist seem less grim and gritty that the film wouldn be taken as seriously You just jealous because I a genuine freak and you have to wear a mask
4:19
This underlying concern is the primary driving force behind basically every sidekick in comics history
4:25
either being cut or aged up prior to the cameras rolling on their big screen outings
4:30
Captain America appeared on film three separate times prior to the MCU
4:34
All three of them refused to acknowledge Bucky. And even though Bucky might be a global icon now, who has legions of internet fans
4:42
the character is significantly aged up in his first Avenger role. Is the character well portrayed? Yes
4:48
But he also serves as an example of how these companies have to do backflips to justify the idea of a sidekick
4:54
Marvel Studios only tolerated the idea of Bucky because they knew the Winter Soldier was around the corner
5:01
Think of it this way. Batman has appeared in 13 live-action feature films
5:05
Tim Drake's Robin has never been in one of the movies. Over the course of the existence of superhero movies, the genre was initially viewed as goofy kids' fare
5:15
However, as projects like Donner's Superman, Burton's Batman, and Blade brought credibility to the genre, it began to blossom
5:21
The 90s and early 2000s saw an influx of adaptations of beloved properties
5:27
most with an emphasis on grounded realism. Sure, the X-Men were on the screen, but they were wearing black leather
5:33
From there, after almost 20 years of comics being adapted and many of the trappings, tropes, and visual accoutrements of the genre
5:40
making their way onto the big screen, sidekicks still aren't really there
5:45
Hollywood still thinks the audience's suspension of disbelief will be broken by seeing a 12-year-old flipping around and kicking criminals in the face
5:53
which is deeply strange because it's literally been done before. Kick-ass. Yeah, Hit-Girl and Big Daddy are pretty much just a satirical send-up
6:06
of the 1966 Burt Ward and Adam West dynamic but with a bit more violence which frankly is a quality that two out of the four primary Robins have already become closely associated with So are we living in a
6:19
world that will soon see a rush of teen sidekicks? No, probably not. A core element of these characters
6:25
is their youth and vitality, something which their big screen or even small screen counterparts
6:30
just seem incapable of ever really accepting. The primal innocence of youth apparently flies in the
6:36
face of every version of the adaptation of these characters. Regardless of how grounded or whimsical
6:41
the specifics of the story they might be appearing in are. Take, for example, the antipathy towards
6:46
the idea of the sidekick displayed in Zack Snyder's version of the Bat Family. Robin is literally more
6:52
interesting dead than alive. Can't have a little kid running around the world where Batman brands
6:57
people, right? Jesus Christ, he branded him. Even look at the Titans TV show. That's a show
7:04
literally composed almost exclusively of former sidekicks who all form a team
7:09
and they have to be grounded in this gritty nihilism so deeply it almost fails to resemble the Titans
7:15
There's something intrinsically innocent, primarily colored, and uplifting about teen or child sidekicks
7:21
They obviously wouldn't be right for every version of these superhero worlds, but come on
7:26
They've literally only made it to live action a handful of times, and they almost never reflect their comic book counterparts
7:32
Rick Jones isn't in the MCU. Wonder Girl? Nowhere. Aqualad? Nope. Superboy? Nada. It's frustrating
7:39
You'd think they would be around, but you'd be wrong because these studios are desperate to have
7:44
these characters taken seriously, even when the films themselves are overtly comedies
7:49
Superheroes are supposed to remind us who we should aspire to be. They should push us to reach
7:54
for our utmost potential. And what is more important than having characters that are
7:59
the appropriate age for the intended audience to truly internalize these lessons. These characters
8:04
give these stories a completely unique lens to view the world. They teach young people that even
8:09
if it seems impossible, that there's always a hope. There's always a way to continue. Plus
8:14
they give the protagonist someone to talk to